How do you explain to an innocent 9 year old girl what happened at the horrible massacres that happened in the mall and grade school this past week??
This weekend I had the privilege of spending some alone time with my granddaughter. We went shopping and saw a movie and then had Mexican food! It was a very stormy,windy, rainy,day. We got our movie tickets first,and then ran for the closet mall entrance. With movie tickets and credit card still in hand we sat down on the nearest bench in the entry way leading into the mall. As I was opening my purse to put our movie tickets away for later,I became aware of my Granddaughters earnest words expressing her feelings about the past weeks shootings in a school and mall. I told myself "be quite and listen she needs to talk." We probably sat on that bench for 10 to 15 minutes while she talked. I can't even remember everything that was said,because I was so struck by her candor and I was so focused on keeping my mouth shut. I do remember we ended the conversation with we have a God that loves us, and someday when we go to heaven we won't have to worry about any of this kind of awful stuff happening.
We went shopping and bought a couple of cute things for her to wear.We laughed ate popcorn and candy. She ordered a virgin mango margarita at the Mexican restaurant and ate tamales. We had a good time.
It makes me sad though that part of my Granddaughters innocence was robbed from her by the selfish, self-centered act of two mentally disturb people. I can have some peace knowing that this world is not the end of our lives,and that when we die our lives really just start!!! That I got the rare privilege to share that with her in a very,very simple way is the best Christmas gift that a grammy could get.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Friday, December 14, 2012
Vulnerable
December 14 2012
This past week I went to a movie,shopping and out to lunch with a dear friend.We have been neighbors,walking buddies attend the same church,and best friends for over sixteen years.I have shared more of my heart with her than with almost anybody else I know.She has always been very supportive and non-judgemental. She lives a life that most other women would envy. Beautiful home with all the bells and whistles,nice car,frequent trips to the beauty salon,nail salon,massages,pedicures,laser treatments etc.etc.she also has many friends that she can call any time for coffee.She spends every winter in Palm Springs for 6 weeks,I think you can get the picture.Like I said I've shared my heart with her and been vulnerable.Sometimes I've felt like she must have things in her life that aren't perfect, I wish she could share them with me,not because I wanted her to have something wrong,I just knew that noone has that perfect of a life.At lunch this week she shared with me how this time of year between Thanksgiving and Christmas are really had for her,because she has no family that lives here.She was very earnest in expressing her feelings to me.I felt bad for her,and tried to put myself in her place and imagine what it would be like to year after year not to be able to have my grandchildren and children to my home for the holidays or almost never.It is just a heartbreaking thought for me to think about.Yes there are phone calls,and skyping ,and she visits them once a year in their home,but it is just not the same as them coming to visit her! To me it would be such a sense of being abandoned.I felt so bad for her,and so dumb that I have so joyfully blabbered every detail of every moment and even bragged about how much fun we have with our family.I'm so glad that she shared her pain with me.I will think twice before I envy her again. I will also curb my bragging. I am so thankful for the family that I have,no it's not perfect all the time,in fact we have had our fair share of heartbreak,but we still do have each other.I'm thankful also to have such a good friend that has put up with me all these years.
This past week I went to a movie,shopping and out to lunch with a dear friend.We have been neighbors,walking buddies attend the same church,and best friends for over sixteen years.I have shared more of my heart with her than with almost anybody else I know.She has always been very supportive and non-judgemental. She lives a life that most other women would envy. Beautiful home with all the bells and whistles,nice car,frequent trips to the beauty salon,nail salon,massages,pedicures,laser treatments etc.etc.she also has many friends that she can call any time for coffee.She spends every winter in Palm Springs for 6 weeks,I think you can get the picture.Like I said I've shared my heart with her and been vulnerable.Sometimes I've felt like she must have things in her life that aren't perfect, I wish she could share them with me,not because I wanted her to have something wrong,I just knew that noone has that perfect of a life.At lunch this week she shared with me how this time of year between Thanksgiving and Christmas are really had for her,because she has no family that lives here.She was very earnest in expressing her feelings to me.I felt bad for her,and tried to put myself in her place and imagine what it would be like to year after year not to be able to have my grandchildren and children to my home for the holidays or almost never.It is just a heartbreaking thought for me to think about.Yes there are phone calls,and skyping ,and she visits them once a year in their home,but it is just not the same as them coming to visit her! To me it would be such a sense of being abandoned.I felt so bad for her,and so dumb that I have so joyfully blabbered every detail of every moment and even bragged about how much fun we have with our family.I'm so glad that she shared her pain with me.I will think twice before I envy her again. I will also curb my bragging. I am so thankful for the family that I have,no it's not perfect all the time,in fact we have had our fair share of heartbreak,but we still do have each other.I'm thankful also to have such a good friend that has put up with me all these years.
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